At the Very End

I'd revealed some of my specs to the challengers on the community forums while preparing for this World Raid. In the process, I also got a glimpse of the specs for the rankers I was comparing myself to. Just as I'd guessed, my overall specs clearly surpassed those of the low-tier rankers hanging out on the 25th floor. Of course, due to the limitations of a normal class, I fell short in areas like the variety of active skills.

But there was one part of my overall specs where I dominated completely: my resistance skills. The more recent ones I'd picked up, like Grand Magic Resistance or Spell Resistance, weren't all that impressive. But skills like Flame Resistance and Poison Resistance, which I'd acquired early on and steadily grown, had no real peers to compare to. I'd heard that even top-tier rankers above the 75th floor rarely had resistance levels this high. There were a few rankers who supposedly matched or exceeded me in some resistances, but even they didn't have a well-rounded spread across multiple types like I did.

So it wasn't strange at all that the serpent dragon, who relied on fire as its main weapon right now, couldn't land a solid hit on me.

-Crunch! The battle hammer came down with ferocious force, smashing one of the serpent dragon's annoying arms to pulp.

"Graaaah! You filthy worm!"

The serpent dragon, now literally deprived of its extra limbs, shrieked in an ugly voice. That cry itself seemed to carry magical effects—wounds all over my body throbbed, and flames erupted from them. Mercedes and the legion commander, fighting up front alongside me, were engulfed in fire too. But no flames rose from Elenoir, who was battling from the rear as a mage. It seemed only wounds from its ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠sword or the branches sprouting from its body ignited.

Talk about a scummy pattern if you really thought about it. The flames weren't that powerful, but it was an unavoidable AoE proportional to the damage dealt. If I didn't have flame resistance, I'd be cursing up a storm about how unfair it was.

"You done showing off?"

I smacked out the flames sprouting from my wounds and charged back at the serpent dragon, weapon in hand. It flailed branches in panic, but the number it could extend had noticeably dwindled from before. Its burning body was shrinking too, no longer fitting the grandiose title of world boss.

-Stab! The long spear plunged into the serpent dragon's body, and it writhed in agony again, its massive frame convulsing. It couldn't even put up a proper struggle to dodge anymore. Well, after getting one-sidedly pummeled by me for so long, that was no surprise. I'd dismantled every desperate pattern it threw out, and it looked like it had no strength left to rampage.

"Time to end this, you creepy fucker."

I signaled the three behind me. The two excluding Elenoir charged in with me. Mercedes outdid me in raw attack power per strike, while the human legion commander's attack speed was faster. Compared to those two top-grade NPCs, my mana reinforcement level and base stats were all inferior.

-Shuruk! But with the black shadows coiling around my body—Elonoir's support magic—the story changed.

-Whoosh! Boom! An explosive blaze erupted, shoving back the two charging with me, but I pressed on undeterred, thanks to my flame resistance. The serpent dragon hurled every burning branch it had at me. Judging by its frantic demeanor, this was its final desperate stand. I took the unavoidable barrage head-on with my body and thrust at the serpent dragon's reverse scale—the weak point I'd painstakingly found.

-Splurt! A critical hit effect burst in red light, and blood sprayed from the wounds where branches pierced my body. My HP bar, which had hit rock bottom several times today, plummeted to a razor-thin margin again. Ignoring my dying body, I stabbed the reverse scale repeatedly.

-Stab-stab-stab-stab-stab! Every thrust triggered a critical, and its attacks pierced me through completely. But after several rounds of brutal mutual stabbing, the one that collapsed wasn't me—it was the blazing serpent.

"Aaaaaaaaah!"

-Thud!

It fell. Dust billowed. And notifications popped up one after another before my eyes.

The numbers scrolling up in the notification window were insane. Too many to read one by one. Even with rewards this massive, there was no rush of growth euphoria or satisfaction. Clearing the world boss meant the farewell I'd agonized over had finally arrived.

"Well... we won."

I stomped on the fallen serpent dragon's head and declared victory in a small voice.

"Now it's truly time for farewell, my dear."

Elenoir, standing a step away, looked at me and said that, then gave a bitter smile.

I dismissed all the noisy reward notifications and approached Elenoir.

"With that thing defeated, the quests should be done now. But I don't know exactly when the consciousness fades."

Elenoir smiled faintly, joking around. Unlike right before the raid, she looked relieved.

"It ends after you claim the rewards. They've already gone into my inventory, so it'll be soon."

"Hmm, so they give enough time for a final goodbye. You don't seem like a hollow shell yet."

"I don't know the exact details either. You saw it in my memories too—it's not common."

Mercedes and the legion commander couldn't follow our conversation. They were NPCs, after all.

"But we've already said our goodbyes plenty, haven't we?"

"I'm not sure if you could even call that a proper farewell."

Leaving the two to react to the serpent dragon's corpse in their own ways, we talked a bit apart.

"I still have so much I want to say to you, but it's not sorted out yet... I don't have the confidence to voice it properly."

Elenoir sat down with a sigh.

"If it cuts off mid-conversation, it'll just breed misunderstandings—so maybe it's better not to say anything."

I felt the same. Getting cut off halfway would hit hard. Through a few words, we agreed ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to skip a formal farewell. Since we didn't know when she'd turn into a shell, we'd act naturally to avoid awkwardness.

"Sound the victory horns and tend to the wounded. You can leave or savor the win in the meantime."

If I followed my heart—no, my resolve—I should leave right now. If my condition were a bit better, I'd have gone immediately. Even my regeneration had limits, it seemed—after scraping by on the brink of death so many times, recovery was sluggish. Maybe the backlash from prolonged mana reinforcement in this state. And the pendant was wrecked too.

-Crack.

The pendant that enabled my mana reinforcement had shattered completely during the intense fight. Not just durability loss—it was destroyed outright, with the item name and classification changed. I'd gotten tons from the World Raid rewards, but losing the key mana reinforcement pendant ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠hurt. Factoring in consumed items and gold, I might even be in the red overall. Though I couldn't quantify everything I'd lost in numbers.

Exactly one day later, I rested up fully and headed to the labyrinth sector to ascend to the next floor. The sector itself had vanished with the World Boss Raid, but the transfer gate to the next floor was here. The epic quest rewards hadn't come yet. It was marked complete, but still calculating rank or something. They'd auto-distribute once done, so heading up wouldn't be an issue. Since I hadn't claimed them, Elenoir probably hadn't turned into a shell yet. I didn't want to leave any lingering regrets with a separate goodbye. That's why I came alone.

"Well, I pretty much saw how everyone ended up anyway..."

Still, over the past day, I'd watched from afar what you might call the epilogue. Elenoir decided to take the serpent dragon's corpse to study it further, saying she needed to learn more about the World Tree. Mercedes talked about building a tomb for the prince and then leading the remaining high elves, however clumsily. I didn't get much chance to chat with the kingdom army, but the legion commander scouted me before leaving—said to come to the kingdom anytime if I had nowhere to go, that a powerhouse like me would always be welcome. Of course, I'd never return to the 9th floor. No matter how tough or painful, I'd sworn to keep pushing forward without stopping. No turning back. I'd carry just a sliver of pride from saving this world—and recall it when things got rough. No, wait—not pride. As if I deserved any. Better to forget it.

I activated the transfer gate to head straight to the 10th floor.

-Boom!

At that instant, a massive explosion roared from afar, shaking the sky. And the explosive mana wave hitting my mana sense. The direction—the dark elf fortress. What the hell? I'd already cleared the epic quest. After all this, it wasn't over? I could ignore it; the transfer gate was still active. The quests were done anyway. But the moment I snapped to my senses, I was already sprinting toward the dark ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠elf village.

"What the fuck is this bullshit, seriously."

What greeted me there was Elenoir, her stomach pierced by an unidentified black spike.